


paradise

by Oparu



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, World Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 15:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13251441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oparu/pseuds/Oparu
Summary: written for January Joy, a little bit angsty, but they’re together and talking and happy, so it’s mostly soft and a little salt-kissed. Maine is a frozen nightmare in winter so they take the Jolly Roger south to where there’s sun and palm trees and fresh fish.





	paradise

A little bit angsty, but they’re together and talking and happy, so it’s mostly soft and a little sunburnt. Maine is a frozen nightmare in winter so they take the  _Jolly Roger_  south to where there’s sun and palm trees and fresh fish. 

for [@csjanuaryjoy](https://tmblr.co/m0jp6IXtg44GmitCOx_TZTA), January 2nd (thanks [@lenfaz](https://tmblr.co/mpv-sAAC_Z_9qzz48nZQtFQ), for all that you do, I had a blas writing this)

* * *

They sail south after Christmas, closing up the house and turning off the water. Henry waves goodbye in a thick hat and and Regina’s all wrapped up in her scarf, next to him. Her parents wave quickly before ducking back into the truck. Neal’s asleep, and it’s too cold for a little kid to be out. It’s almost too cold to sail, but the  _Jolly Roger_  has her own magic. Spells make her a sailable ship in the worst of weather, even with two people when the crew should be much larger. She’s a marvel of wood and rope and they run away with her. 

Not all of the old world was curses and terror. Ursula meets them in the bay, unbothered by the cold, even when snow falls into her hair. She smiles at them, opening her hand sand a portal, spinning, swirling, ready for their ship. 

“Have a good time, love birds,” she calls, before disappearing, singing joyfully to herself as she sends them far away. 

Then it’s just them and the ship, sails and sea, and when Emma opens her eyes, the sun is warm and king, beating down lovingly instead of hiding behind clouds of ice. Killian wraps his arms around her, holding her tight before he kisses her cheek.

“This is the world I’ve always wanted to show you. Not curses and castles, but the beauty of the sea.” 

“It smells nice.” Emma sheds her winter coat and hangs it near the door below deck to put away later. 

“You haven’t even seen the beaches.”

“Do I need a swim suit?”

He tilts his head and then smirks. “Not where we’re going.” 

They disappear, not to Neverland or some other cursed island of ghosts and pirates, or ghost pirates and monkeys, but to islands so small the Jolly Rogers dwarfs their beaches, and islands where water cascades off cliffs into little pools like jewels of blue. The sea’s so bright that it doesn’t seem like it can possibly be the same stuff that surrounds Maine.

Lying on a beach, listening to the birds as the sun sets around them, Emma pulls the blanket up, staring down at his naked chest. “I’ve never been on vacation.”

“No?”

“I have a few memories of going camping with Henry, but they’re Regina’s. I never took him to stay in a tent by the sea.”

“You can,” he sits up, taking a swig of rum and something called tamarind that tastes like apple cinnamon. “We can pack him up and take him here, or further south where the islands are full of sheep and it starts to get cold again. Bet he’d love to see penguins.”

“Penguins?”

“Aye.” He runs his hand through her hair, watching the stars come out in such numbers that there seems to be no parts of the sky left unadorned. “There are beautiful parts of this world. Dangerous too, sometimes. These islands are quiet because they’re in mermaid territory, but Ursula and I have come to an understanding.”

“You gave her voice back, she doesn’t hate you.”

Killian chuckles.” Aye, that’s an understanding. We sailed together, years ago before I betrayed her trust. We remember that, feeling alone, like no one wanted us. Now we know better.” 

Kissing him, Emma straddles his lap, resting her hands on his naked chest. “It’s so quiet.”

“Birds, giant crabs the size of coconuts, lizards–” He tilts his head towards the little bit of woods behind the mangroves. “Spiders.”

“Don’t make me miss Maine.” 

They wrestle a little, skin rubbing against skin until they’re kissing, headless and hot and hungry. Once he starts to run his fingers up her thigh, she no longer cares if there are giant crabs in the woods. Let them watch. 

They swim back to the  _Jolly_  in the moonlight, towing their clothes in oilcloth. Emma stands naked n the deck, staring out over the sea still as a mirror. “Why don’t we live here?”

“No Netflix.”

“Seriously,” she wonders, leaning against the rail while the warm night air caresses her drying skin. “Is that it?”

“You’d get bored.”

Maybe after like…a year.” She takes the towel he offers and rubs it over her skin, her hair’s gone messy, because of the salt water, ad it’ll be like that until they find a clear pool to wash it off in. She doesn’t even mind that. 

“Wouldn’t you want to bring everyone?”

Imagining Henry and her parents building sandcastles makes her grin, and Regina, in a sun hat, because she would look like a fashionable lady, even here. 

“I would,” she says, slipping back into his arms, “and they would get bored faster than I. I don’t know what my parents would do without the farm or some other kind of crisis.”

“Henry might want to bring a girlfriend.” 

Emma winces, resting her head on his chest. “I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

“You have given him a talk.”

“I did, Regina did, I’m sure you can too. Maybe if we embarrass the fuck out of him he’ll do better than I did.”

“Emma–” he stops her, holding her face. “You are wonderful.” 

“Thanks.”

“I will advise Henry on the importance of choosing his partners with care, on the art of seduction.”

“Oh don’t you dare.”

“Do you not wish him to be charming?”

“Kid’s plenty charming. Seduction might be a little far off just yet.” She ducks below, an he follows, catching her on the stairs and kissing her against the warm wood. They follow that pattern to bed, kissing and touching, worshipping their skin with playful hands. 

* * *

In the morning, they sail to another island, this one with tall palm trees and a deeper woods. They trek inland, lazily dressed in a mix of old clothes and new. Linen shirts do work well in the heat, but no shoes from the old world hold a candle to the new. She follows him on old stone paths, through trees covered in strange moss so green it almost glows in the darkness. Deep into the woods, the mountains rise high above them, covered in flowers or more hues than Emma thought her eyes could see. Birds flit past them, bright reds and blues, and butterflies as large s dinner plates linger in air. She’s not going to thin about the spiders.

Through that mystery, is one of the little spring fed pools, lit so it sparkles by a shaft of sunlight. Killian removes his boots, then his shirt, standing half dressed before he removes his trousers and heads in. There’s soap in the bag, and lunch, even rum and limes and honey. The salt melts from her skin, with her sweat, an she stares up at the green and the blue before moving closer to him. “We have to bring Henry.”

“all right.”

“And-” she starts to say any other kids. Our kids, but Henry’s theirs, she just means–

“All right.”

They kiss, and she fights her tears. This is paradise, and her heart is so full it runs over like the stream, heading for the sea. 

“I’d like to being a child here, watch them chase parrots and butterflies. Teach them how to catch a crab, cook a lobster, get to a coconut beneath all the husk.” He reaches for the bag, taking out the bar of shampoo and slowly rubbing it into her hair. “Someday.”

No hurry.

Not like she isn’t getting close to thirty-five and he’s like two-hundred and something. No rush. All the time in the world. 

“Someday.” 

Maybe she’ll talk to Dr. Whale about her implant when they get back, see what it takes to remove the damn thing. Maybe someday is this year, maybe it’s next year, maybe she really shouldn’t worry because paradise will wait for her. this did. He did. She turns around, kissing him before she takes the soap from his hand.

“Thank you.” 

He kisses her in response, and the last salt on her skin are her tears. Happy ones, because that’s when she cries now. not because she’s alone or afraid, but because her heart is so full that paradise pales in comparison. 

 


End file.
